Month: August 2015

The Firebirds are back for the August edition of Writer Wednesday. For this month’s prompt, we’re sharing interesting search results.

Sometime back, I was looking for a way to kill someone and have it look like suicide. (Maybe I should explain here that I write suspense.) I decided to have the villain inject drugs into the victim so it would appear that she committed suicide by overdosing. During my search, I found a rather interesting website called Guns, Drugs and Bad Ideas. I ran across a forum where people were sharing their experiences with crushing and shooting up different substances. Based on those posts, I settled on oxycodone as my drug of choice.

Another search that yielded some interesting results was when I asked the question, “How fast do bodies decompose?” The short answer is, “It depends.” A lot of factors come into play, including temperature, weather conditions and whether the body is buried or exposed. For anyone with a strong stomach, there are plenty of pictures to help with writing those descriptions.

Two of the searches I did on my most recent project were how to launder money and how to make a pipe bomb. I haven’t tried either, but I now know how to do both and have incorporated them into my book.

Having so much information at our fingertips is such an advantage in writing stories that ring true. I don’t know how writers did it back in the “old” days. My husband has his concerns, though. He keeps expecting men in black suits to walk up the sidewalk and haul me in for questioning.

What kind of searches have you done? Anything fun? Anything that could get you in trouble? I’d love to hear about it. Meanwhile, check out what my writer friends have to say at the links below. (For future Writer Wednesday topics, see the calendar at the bottom of this post.)

Also this month, we’re celebrating Firebird sister Kristen Ethridge’s release of her new book, The Doctor’s Unexpected Family. Here’s the blurb:

Dr. Pete Shipley is on a mission to save lives and he’s ready to move to another corner of the world where his skills are needed. City Councilwoman Angela Ruiz is a single parent fighting to save her hometown after Hurricane Hope tears through Port Provident, leaving destruction across the community she has sworn to serve. Together, they team up to found The Grace Space, a Christian-based community gathering spot in the heart of Angela’s district, where residents can get food, household goods, and basic medical care while Port Provident rebuilds after the storm.When Pete’s appointment to an international medical mission comes, will the doctor follow his lifelong dream and leave Port Provident, The Grace Space, and Angela and her daughter—or will he stay with the family he didn’t expect to love and realize he can change the world without leaving home?Hurricane Hope: One storm changes Port Provident forever…and for good.